For a lot of parents however, hearing these words strikes terror into their hearts: they want to be positive-faith-formers for their children but they can’t see how they can add one more thing to their already busy lives. Therefore, those of us who work with children and families in the church need to help them see that faith formation in the home is not one more added activity but something that can be integrated into other activities. So let’s look at how families can do this.
Bedtime and bath-time rituals
These are times when families often tell and read stories and sing songs with their children. It is a simple task to substitute a Bible story book or a song learned at a church programme for the usual books and songs. This helps kids explore Bible stories and helps parents learn something about the Bible too. Bedtime is also an opportune time to pray together, talk through the events of the day and ask God to be present in them and in the day to come.
Meal-time rituals
Families need to make it a priority to eat together during the week. At those meals some simple rituals can remind the children of God’s presence in their lives and the lives of their families. For example, lighting a table candle each evening can be a symbol to children of God’s presence or a reminder that Jesus, the light of the world, has come. A simple grace at meals is a way to remind children of the virtue of gratitude and to thank God for his good gifts.
Times in the car
Families can be encouraged to download Bible story songs on to their phone or MP3 player and play them for the children while they are travelling in the car. Times in the car or walks together can be great times to talk about life and how God fits into it. Parents can take these times to interject prayers for asking God to help with certain situations or thanking God for good things that have happened.
Holidays
Most families in our churches celebrate holidays and several of the big ones like Christmas and Easter have direct connections to church celebrations and Bible stories. Church faith-formation workers might want to develop activities around these holidays that begin at church and then are continued at home throughout the seasonal celebration. The key to faith formation in the home, for families with busy lives, is integrating faith into activities they are already doing
Faith-formation classes that include both children and parents
It’s difficult to get parents to come to parent training classes at church but I’ve found that if we’re doing something with their children and we ask them to come they will make it a priority. I once offered a short class on helping preschoolers to pray and invited the parents. They all came and watched me model talking about prayer and praying with preschoolers. I hope they took some of the practices home with them.
The key to faith formation in the home for families with busy lives is learning how to integrate faith into activities they are already doing. Our job is to teach families how to do this — how to cultivate the intentionality of doing faith formation daily with their children.
